ESA to Increase Lobbying

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The videogame industry wants Washington's attention.

By Daemon Hatfield

Even though the videogame industry sees profits on par with or higher than the music and film industries (with consumer spending on games to top music this year), our crowd still doesn't hold much sway in Washington. The new President of the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), Michael D. Gallagher, is looking to change that. In an interview with the New York Times today, Gallagher said the ESA will be revealing its full agenda after E3. But he acknowledged that throwing some money around Capitol Hill is at the top of his to-do list.

"The main challenge is connecting with decision makers and creating champions for the videogame industry in the policy-making arena," he said. "So working to set up a way for the Entertainment Software Association to participate in the federal election process is one of my top priorities. Contributing on the federal level is a very important part of our success going forward."

Gallagher explains that videogames lack the celebrity star power of the movie and music industries.

"Washington is very enamored with glitz and the appeal of stars," he said. "Whenever Bono shows up he creates this bow wave as he comes through, and it's true that stars do help drive messages. And it is true that Master Chief and Mario are not yet household words on the Hill, but wait for the years ahead."

Michael D. Gallagher, President of the ESAAttempts to regulate videogames in recent years have been numerous, and many feel the industry is unfairly being held to a different standard than that of other media such as books, movies, and TV. Most of the lobbying done by the ESA thus far has been at the state level to counteract this regulation.

"At the most basic level my job is to create opportunities for this industry to thrive," Gallagher said. "We need to make sure the policy environment supports the growth of videogames."

The new President believes there is a generation gap between lawmakers and videogame players, but insists that his time in politics hasn't taken him out of touch with gamers. During his tenure as Chief of Staff for Representative Rick White in the '90s, Gallagher apparently networked the office computers so the staff could play Doom.

"I was the chief of staff, so it was my prerogative to be the office champion," he said.